New bench to hear Dhanmondi playground plea

Dhaka South City Corporation hung a notice on the gate on April 24, opening the ground to all after two years. Photo: STAR

A new high court bench has been formed to deal with a writ petition filed for the removal of illegal structures from Dhanmondi public playground of the capital.

The HC bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain will now deal with the petition.

The bench will fix a date next week for hearing the petition.

Earlier on May 4, one HC bench, comprising of Justice Farah Mahbub and Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo felt embarrassed during a hearing on the petition and sent it to the chief Justice.

The petition was filed seeking directives on the government authorities to remove illegal structures from the Dhanmondi-8 public playground in the capital and to ensure people's access to the open space.

The playground was opened to the public on April 24, days after protests by green activists, but the structures built by Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, which had illegally occupied the field for two years, stayed there as before.

Earlier on April 28, judges of a division bench of the HC- Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Md Habibul Gani had refused to hear the petition.